Ed Hume Answers Your Gardening Questions

Ed Hume cannot answer all of the garden questions he receives, but questions
of general interest will be answered here every month. Email your questions
to HumeSeeds@aol.com. Please
note: we do not accept attachments.

My husband and I are
moving from Portland, OR to Philadelphia, PA and we have several house plants
we would like to take with. We are transporting our household items via moving
truck which is likely to take at least a week to get to Philadelphia. Is
there a way to protect our plants from the cold weather while they are in
the truck?

That's a very tough
situation. Most moving companies do make adjustments for moving sensitive
items. It may be that the driver can load them in the cab or adjoining sleeping
area. Some vans are semi-heated, so check with them.

If the weather isn't too frigid, you can box the plants then insulate them
with moving blankets to keep them warm enough for the journey.

Incedentally, our program is aired in Wall, PA, so you may be able to see
the show in Philadelphia.

We will be doing some
traveling in the Western States this year and I would like to know if you
can suggest any books that list public and private gardens that we can visit
on our travels.

I usually buy touring books but they don't list gardens very often. I do
have a book that list WA gardens that I have enjoyed. Do you have any
suggestions?

Oregon, Washington
and British Columbia are listed in Stephanie Feeney's book 'The NW Gardeners
Directory'. It has a listing of gardens, specialty nurseries and much, much
more. An excellent reference.

Another fine book is 'The Complete Guide to North American Gardens - Western
Edition'. Publisher is Little, Brown.

'American Gardens, A Traveler's Guide' is the publication of the Brooklyn
Botanic Gardens and lists the gardens by state.

I have just purchased
a home in Northwest Portland and my soil is extreme clay. It rains and rains
here and I have planted a Rhododendron and a magnolia. The Rhododendron isn't
doing well because of the amount of water in the soil. I need to know what
I can do to breakup the clay so that I can grow Rhododendrons, Camilias.
I haven't found many plants that like our soil.

There are two ways
to solve the problem. One is to raise the soil in your planting areas...build
what are called 'burms'. The other is to work with the soil and try to break
it up with sand and by adding organic humus like compost, well rotted manure,
bark, sawdust or other forms of organic material.

The addition of gysum helps break up clay, but is a three year process. Add
the gypsum once a year for three years. Apply at the rate of 40 lbs. per
1,000 square feet of area. It can be added at the same time as the organic
materials and sand.

I have blueberries
that produce limited fruit, and I don't know how to remedy this. Any advice
would be appreciated.

It might help to feed
them in about mid-February to mid-March. If you are an organic gardener,
use cottonseed meal or fish fertilizer. Otherwise, use a rhododendron type
fertilizer that contains micro nutrients. Read and follow application directions
and water in after applying.

You can also prune some of the old growth to encourage new growth. This often
helps increase fruit production. On old established plants, you can remove
up to 1/3 of the tired (old) growth.